Scan 335
Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians Vol.5, 1925
41 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 283. See the scan on archive.org.
1less known but very artistic and numerous ones of Rolla, by the aid of which any competent violinist will soon become master of the Tenor. Mozart wrote a concerto for Violin, Tenor, and Orchestra. The Trios of Mozart and Beethoven for Violin, Tenor, and Violoncello are too well known to need more than mentioning.
3Owing, probably, to the structural peculiarities that have been explained above, what is the best model for the violin is not the best for the Tenor. It would seem that the limitation which necessity imposes upon its length ought to be compensated by an increase in height: for Tenors of high model are undoubtedly better than those of flat model, and hence Stradivari Tenors are kept rather to be admired than played upon. The best Tenors for use are certainly those of the Amati school, or old copies of the same by good English makers: in this country the favourite Tenor-maker is undoubtedly Banks. New fiddles are sometimes fairly good in tone: but new Tenors are always intolerably harsh, from the combined effect of their newness and of the flat model which is now universally preferred. If, however, makers of the Tenor would copy Amati, instead of Stradivari, this would no longer be the case.
5Herr Hermann Ritter, a Tenor-player resident in Heidelberg, in ignorance of the fact that the large Tenor was in use for more than a century, and was abandoned as impracticable, claims a Tenor of monstrous size as an invention of his own.1 If all Tenor-players were of the herculean proportions of Mr. Ritter, the great Tenor might perhaps be revived: but human beings of ordinary stature are quite incapable of wrestling with such an instrument: to which it may be added that the singular and beautiful tenor tone, resulting from the necessary disproportion between the pitch and the dimensions of the instrument, is now too strongly identified with it to admit of any change.
7The following is a list of special music for the Tenor:—
9Methods:
10BRUNI, MARSH, FICKERT, LÜTGEN (recommended).
11Studies:
12CAMPAGNOLI. 41 Caprices, op. 22.
13KAYSER. Studies, op. 43, op. 55.
14Tenor and Orchestra:
15DAVID, F. Concertino, op. 12.
16[KREUZ, Emil. Concerto.]
17Tenor and Piano:
18SCHUMANN. Op. 113, 'Märchen Bilder,' 4 pieces.
19HILL, W. Notturno, Scherzo, and Romance.
20JOACHIM. Op. 9, Hebrew Melodies; op. 10, Variations on an original theme.
21KALLIWODA. 6 nocturnes, op. 186.
22LÜTGEN. Barcarole, op. 33.
23TÄGLICHESBECK. Op. 49, Concertstück.
24HOFMANN, C. Reverie, op. 45.
25WALLNER. Fantaisie de Concert.
26[WALKER, E. Romance in B flat.
27BOWEN, York. Sonatas in C minor and F major.]
291 See Die Geschichte der Viola Alta und die Grundsatze ihres Baues, Von H. Ritter (Leipzig, Weber, 1871); Hermann Ritter und seine Viola Alta, Von E. Adema (Würzburg, Stuber, 1881). The practical violin-maker may estimate the value of Instruments constructed on Herr Ritter's rules from the fact that he takes as his guide the 'calcolo' of Bagatella! one of two readings
301 See Die Geschichte der Viola Alta und die Grundsatze ihres Baues, Von H. Ritter (Leipzig, Weber, 1871); Hermann Ritter und seine Viola Alta, Von E. Adema (Würzburg, Stuber, 1881). The practical violin-maker may estimate the value of instruments constructed on Herr Ritter's rules from the fact that he takes as his guide the 'calcolo' of Bagatella! one of two readings
32Herr H. Ritter has also edited 'Repertorium für Viola Alta' (Nürnberg, Schmid), containing twenty-two pieces, mostly classical transcriptions with pianoforte accompaniment. E. J. P.
34VIOLA BASTARDA. The Bass Viol, or Viola da Gamba, mounted with sympathetic strings like the Viola d'Amore. It afterwards developed into the Baryton. [See BARYTON.] E. J. P.
36[According to Michael Praetorius (Syntagma musicum, 1614–20) the Viola Bastarda had six strings and was made in five different pitches (the tone corresponding to that of the violoncello). He also states that it was to this instrument that the English first applied sympathetic strings. Mr. Engel (The Violin Family, 1883) says that the Viola Bastarda was somewhat like the Viola da gamba in shape, but slightly longer and narrower. He states that the six strings were tuned as above.]
38VIOLA D'AMORE. A Tenor Viol with sympathetic strings. It usually has seven stopped strings. The sympathetic strings, of fine steel or brass, pass through small holes drilled in the lower part of the bridge, and under the finger-board: their number varies from seven to fourteen. They are tuned to a diatonic or chromatic scale. We give the ordinary tuning of the gut strings. The sympathetic strings, tuned to the scale of D, diatonic or chromatic, are sometimes screwed up by pegs similar to those of the gut strings: but the better plan is to attach them to wrest-pins driven into the sides of the peg-box. [See below, p. 300.] E. J. P.
40[The origin of the instrument, and of the romantic name borne by the Viola d'Amore, have lapsed into oblivion. Though perhaps it may be said that Praetorius (Syntagma musicum, 1619) disposes to some extent of the question, 'Who first adjusted sympathetic strings to the viols?' in his description of the Viola Bastarda. It was to this instrument, he says, that a peculiar invention had been adjusted by the English, i.e. eight additional steel and twisted brass strings, placed under the ordinary six strings; resting on a brass bridge and tuned in unison with the upper strings. As he describes several sizes of the Viola Bastarda, one of the smaller members of the family may, no doubt, be claimed as the true ancestor of the Viola d'Amore. According to the English authority — John Playford — who describes the instrument in his Musicks Recreation on the Viol, Lyraway, 1661, Mr. Daniel Faurant, the inventor of the 'Poliphant' and the 'Stump,' created the Viola d'Amore. Yet, to go farther back, the 'Bourdons' of centuries anterior to Praetorius and Playford may equally claim a place in the ancestry of this instrument. Of still higher
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